Js  /     r^rw* 


University  of  California— College  of  Agriculture, 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 
B.  W.  HILGARD,  Director. 


REPORT 


CONDITION  OF  OLIVE  CULTURE 


CALIFORNIA 


BY 

A.     P.     HAYNE 


BULLETIN  No.  129. 

(May,  1900.) 


SACRAMENTO: 
a.  j.  johnston,       :         :         :         :        :        superintendent  state  printing. 

1900. 


EEPOET 

ON   THE 

CONDITION  OF  OLIVE  CULTURE 

IN   CALIFORNIA. 


General  Considerations. 

While  olives  have  been  grown  in  California  for  over  a  century,  it  has 
been  but  during  the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years  that  the  industry  has 
assumed  any  importance.  The  first  plantations  were  made  by  the 
Mission  Fathers,  but  at  the  secularization  of  the  missions,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  last  century,  these  trees  were  abandoned,  and  but  few  are 
now  alive.  Some  of  the  early  settlers  planted  a  few  olive  trees  for  orna- 
mental purposes;  little  attention,  however,  was  paid  to  olive  culture 
until  about  twenty  years  ago,  when  it  began  to  assume  an  important 
place  in  California  horticulture.  It  had  been  demonstrated  that  the  tree 
would  grow  and  bear  fruit,  but  beyond  this  little  or  nothing  was  known. 

As  the  ;' Mission"  variety  was  the  only  available  stock,  it  was  widely 
planted  throughout  the  State.  Because  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  true  name 
or  value  of  the  "  Mission"  olive,  new  varieties  were  imported  from  foreign 
countries,  and  to-day  almost  every  variety  (about  seventy  in  all)  of  the 
olive-growing  countries  of  the  Old  World  is  represented  in  the  olive 
groves  of  California. 

As  in  the  case  of  all  new  enterprises  undertaken  by  people  totally 
ignorant  of  the  subject,  much  had  to  be  learned  by  experience,  and 
many  failures  naturally  resulted.  As  the  olives  came  into  bearing,  mar- 
kets had  to  be  created,  for  the  olive  thus  far  was  a  commodity  compara- 
tively unknown  and  unappreciated  by  Americans.  Nor  was  it  with 
the  olive  alone  that  difficulty  was  experienced  in  marketing.  Badly 
organized  markets  led  to  general  depression  in  horticulture,  and  much 
uneasiness  was  publicly  expressed.  This  general  depression  in  fruit 
culture  is  shown  by  the  following  resolution,  passed  by  a  unanimous  vote 
by  the  California  Fruit-Growers'  Convention,  held  at  Riverside  in  1897: 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  Convention  that  we  sound  this  note  of  warning 
to  discourage  the  further  planting  of  any  of  the  above-named  [  citrus  and  deciduous  ] 
fruit  trees  and  vines,  until  such  time  as  some  method  can  be  devised  whereby  the  crops 
already  being  produced  annually  can  be  marketed  with  reasonable  profit  to  the  fruit- 
growers of  California. 


—  3  — 

As  soon  as  the  fruit-growers  combined  and  studied  the  question  of 
marketing  and  handling  of  the  crops,  the  natural  value  of  fruit  was 
found,  and  to-day  there  is  no  question  as  to  the  success  of  deciduous  or 
citrus  fruit  culture. 

While  success  crowned  the  efforts  of  the  deciduous  and  citrus  fruit 
grower,  the  olive-grower  found  a  growing  local  market,  which  in  a  meas- 
ure eased  the  strain.  Great  distress  naturally  followed  the  succession  of 
several  extremely  dry  seasons.  Besides  this,  the  market  received  much 
oil  of  poor  quality  and  large  quantities  of  unsound  pickles,  thereby 
causing  still  more  suffering. 

Recently  the  newspapers  of  the  State  began  to  discuss  the  olive  prob- 
lem, and  much  interest  has  been  manifested.  The  discussion  was,  in 
many  cases,  intemperate  and  far  too  acrimonious  to  be  of  value.  Many 
irresponsible  writers  also  took  part  in  it,  the  only  result  being  a  decided 
dropping  in  the  market  values  of  olive  orchards.  This  sudden  fall  in 
valuation  was  variously  estimated  to  be  from  fifteen  to  fifty  per  cent; 
while  a  grave  doubt  concerning  the  commercial  value  of  the  olive  con- 
tinued to  exist  in  the  minds  of  many.  To  such  a  degree  had  the  indus- 
try come  to  be  distrusted  that  the  Experiment  Station  detailed  the 
writer  to  investigate  the  condition  of  olive  culture  in  California  and  the 
causes  of  the  depression,  and  to  indicate  the  possible  remedies. 

In  the  pursuit  of  this  investigation,  the  merchants  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  State,  as  well  as  the  growers  of  olives  and  the  manufacturers  of 
oil  and  pickles,  were  interviewed.  The  counties  of  Butte,  Placer,  Sac- 
ramento, San  Joaquin,  Merced,  Fresno,  Tulare,  Santa  Clara,  Alameda, 
Contra  Costa,  Santa  Barbara,  Ventura,  Los  Angeles,  Orange,  San  Diego, 
San  Bernardino,  and  Riverside  were  visited,  and  all  the  reported  failures, 
as  well  as  the  successful  orchards,  were  investigated. 

Summarily  stated,  it  has  been  found  that  there  is  nothing  in  the 
condition  of  olive  culture  in  California  to  justify  the  sweeping  state- 
ments made  that  olive  culture  is  a  failure.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
found  that  wherever  trees  of  suitable  varieties,  planted  on  suitable  soil, 
had  been  given  proper  care,  and  the  crops  properly  harvested  and  manu- 
factured, olive  culture  was  a  success — certainly  as  marked  a  success  as 
in  the  case  of  any  other  kind  of  fruit  culture  now  existing  in  California. 

There  is  a  good  and  growing  demand  all  over  the  United  States  for 
certain  products  of  the  olive,  and  the  supply  is  at  present  insufficient 
to  meet  the  demand.  Ripe  pickles  of  standard  quality  bring  in  bulk 
75  cents  per  gallon  f.  o.  b.,  while  good  ripe  olives  for  pickling  are 
sold  on  the  tree  at  from  $20  to  $90  per  ton.  Oil  olives  vary  in  price 
according  to  variety  and  location. 

The  market  was  found  to  be  poorly  organized,  and  the  feverish,  pan- 
icky feeling  prevailing  in  certain  localities  renders  generalization  mis- 
leading. 


The  causes  of  failure  were  found  to  be  among  the  following: 

Cultural  Conditions. 
Improper  selection  of  soils. 
Neglect  of  tillage  and  irrigation. 
Neglect  of  proper  pruning. 
Neglect  in  fighting  insect  pests. 

Commercial  Conditions. 

Competition  with  cottonseed  oil  and  others  sold  as  "  olive  oil." 
Poor  harvesting  and  manufacturing  methods. 
Selection  of  unsuitable  varieties. 

As  a  rule,  at  least  three  out  of  the  above  mentioned  causes  were  found 
to  be  concerned  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  the  failures;  and  it  was 
found,  on  the  other  hand,  that  in  every  case  where  well-selected  varie- 
ties had  been  planted  on  proper  soil  and  were  properly  cared  for, 
harvested,  and  manufactured,  no  serious  difficulty  was  encountered. 

During  his  trips  among  the  olive  orchards  of  the  State,  the  writer  was 
so  greatly  impressed  with  the  frequent  neglect  of  these  conditions  which 
affect  success  or  failure  in  the  growing  and  marketing  of  the  olive,  a 
neglect  due  either  to  carelessness  or  lack  of  information  on  the  part  of 
the  grower,  that  he  proposes  in  the  following  pages  to  briefly  review  the 
chief  points  mentioned  above,  for  the  benefit  of  those  growers  who  have 
reported  failure.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  placed  on  these  points, 
in  view  of  the  cloud  that  now  hangs  over  the  olive  industry,  caused 
mainly  by  improvident  and  wrong  methods  of  culture,  and  of  handling 
of  the  tree  and  fruit. 

CULTURAL   CONDITIONS. 

The  Olive  Requires  Care. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  fact  brought  out  by  the  investigation  was 
that  the  olive  tree  requires  as  much  care  and  attention  as  any  other  fruit 
tree,  and  when  it  receives  this  on  suitable  land  it  is  always  a  success. 
When  the  industry  was  in  its  infancy  the  country  was  flooded  with 
articles  written  by  people  who  knew  little  or  nothing  about  olive  cul- 
ture, but  who  had  a  high  appreciation  of  the  beautiful,  as  well  as  ready 
pens.  Nurserymen  who  were  anxious  to  sell  trees,  or  real-estate  owners 
who  had  land  for  sale,  wrote  and  distributed  broadcast  a  mass  of  fiction, 
which  was  all  accepted  as  fact  by  the  planters  of  olive  orchards. 

Improper  Soils. 

The  first  and  most  harmful  teaching  of  these  writers  was  that  the 
olive  tree  would  grow  where  no  other  fruit  tree  would  live.  This  is 
founded  on  fact,  but  they  neglected  to  mention  the  additional  fact  that 


—  5  — 

while  the  tree  would  live  in  such  locations,  it  would  not  bear  profitable 
crops.  As  a  result  of  these  teachings  large  areas  that  have  been  planted 
in  olives  not  only  do  not  pay  now,  but  never  will.  It  is  a  clear  conclu- 
sion from  experience  that  the  olive  appreciates  a  good  soil,  and  its 
requirements  in  this  respect  are  like  those  of  other  fruit-bearing  trees. 

Improper  Tillage  and  Irrigation. 

The  supposed  immunity  of  the  olive  tree  from  the  most  common 
requirements  of  culture  led  to  the  additional  erroneous  conclusion  that 
the  olive  needs  little  or  no  water,  and  large  areas  were  planted  in  locali- 
ties where  water  could  neither  be  had  from  sufficient  rains  nor  from 
irrigation.  From  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other  not  a  single  excep- 
tion was  found  to  the  rule  that  to  be  profitable,  the  olive  requires  water, 
pruning,  and  care.  It  is  true  that  an  excess  of  water  will  kill  the  tree, 
but  this  is  also  true  of  other  trees. 

By  cultivation  is  meant  such  a  breaking  up  and  loosening  or  tilling 
of  the  hard  soil,  such  smoothing  of  the  surface  of  a  rough  soil,  and  such 
destruction  of  weeds  and  useless  growth,  that  the  moisture  may  be  kept 
in  the  soil  and  stored  for  the  use  of  the  plant  it  is  desired  to  grow.  It 
has  been  asked  if  cultivation  does  not  mean  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
"  cultivator."  While  a  well-cultivated  orchard  certainly  should  have  the 
"  cultivator "  used  on  it,  the  plow  should  not  be  abandoned  —  as  the 
writer  has  found  to  be  the  case  in  certain  places. 

Cultivation,  or  more  properly  tillage,  cannot  of  course  produce  or 
create  water  that  does  not  already  exist  in  the  soil,  but  it  tends  to 
prevent  the  evaporation  of  that  already  present.  Hence  the  necessity 
for  tilling  the  soil  at  such  times  as  the  nature  of  the  case  demands. 
In  this  matter  common  sense  and  judgment  cannot  be  eliminated. 

In  certain  parts  of  the  State  abundant  rains  furnish  a  large  amount 
of  moisture  that,  with  proper  tillage,  is  kept  in  the  ground  and  used  by 
the  tree  as  it  needs  it.  In  others,  where  scanty  rains  prevail,  the  moist- 
ure is  furnished  by  means  of  irrigation,  but  cultivation  or  tillage  is  as 
necessary  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  Cultivation  cannot  be  made  to 
take  the  place  of  irrigation,  nor  the  latter  that  of  the  former;  they  must 
go  together.  As  simple  as  this  seems  to  be  to  the  intelligent  farmer,  it 
is  nevertheless  true  that,  owing  to  a  misconception  or  disregard  of  this 
truism,  thousands  of  acres  in  this  State  are  either  nonproductive  or  are 
rapidly  becoming  so.  Numerous  and  striking  examples  of  this  are  found 
after  dry  years,  such  as  the  two  just  past. 

Excessive  irrigation  is  as  injurious  to  the  plant  as  under-irrigation. 
While  a  certain  amount  of  moisture  is  required  for  its  existence,  an 
excess  of  moisture  will  speedily  destroy  plant  life;  moreover,  it  materially 
injures  the  quality  of  all  fruits.  Besides,  certain  soils  may  lose  much 
of  their  plant-food  by  leaching,  the  water  dissolving  their  nutritive 
elements  and  carrying  them  downward  out  of  reach  of  the  plant. 


—  6  — 

In  most  soils  ground  water  is  to  be  found  always  at  a  certain  depth — 
frequently  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  roots  of  most  plants.  This  moist- 
ure is  drawn  up  to  the  surface  of  the  soil  by  capillarity,  and  passes  off 
into  the  air.  The  rise  of  the  water  is  greatly  favored  by  the  compact- 
ness of  the  surface  of  the  soil,  as  is  shown  by  the  rapidity  with  which 
hard  soils  will  dry  out,  while  loose,  well-tilled  soils  remain  moist.  The 
more  compact  the  soil  the  more  powerfully  will  it  hold  and  conduct 
water.  By  keeping  the  surface  of  the  soil  well  tilled  we  break  up  the 
minute  capillary  tubes  and  make  it  extremely  difficult  for  the  water  to 
pass  to  the  surface;  and  under  this  mulch  of  loose  soil  we' find  moisture 
all  the  year  round,  though  the  mulch  itself  may  be  very  dry. 

Deep  plowing  loosens  the  fourteen  inches  below  the  surface  and  gives 
the  first  check  to  the  evaporation  of  subsoil  moisture;  but  this  loose 
layer  soon  becomes  more  compact  and  is  then  broken  up  by  means  of 
the  cultivator,  which  thus  puts  a  looser  layer  on  the  first,  in  this  way 
imprisoning  the  moisture  in  the  soil.  Much  moisture  may  be  lost  if  the 
clods  be  not  broken  and  the  ridges  leveled  by  harrowing  or  dragging; 
but  even  a  rough  surface  is  preferable  to  a  hard  one.  Shallow,  ill-timed 
plowing  and  improper  harrowing  may  give  rise  to  both  faults. 

In  certain  sections  it  was  found  that  standing  water  existed  all  the 
year  at  a  depth  of  three  and  one  half  feet,  and  yet  two  annual  irrigations 
were  practiced,  with  little  or  no  cultivation.  In  such  cases  drainage 
and  cultivation  of  the  soil  should  certainly  have  taken  the  place  of  irri- 
gation. In  other  sections  there  had  not  been  sufficient  rain  during  the 
winter  to  furnish  a  supply  of  water,  so  that  irrigation  became  necessary. 

In  localities  where  water  was  difficult  to  obtain  during  the  summer, 
most  excellent  results  have  been  obtained,  on  well-drained  lands,  by  win- 
ter irrigation;  i.  e.,  when  water  was  abundant,  the  land  was  flooded  and 
thus  allowed  to  absorb  as  much  water  as  would  have  been  supplied  by 
an  abundant  rainfall.  Wherever  this  was  practiced  the  results  were 
most  striking,  as  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  photograph  of  winter- 
irrigated  trees  at  the  Pomona  Experiment  Station  (Plate  I). 

Those  who  defend  their  neglect  of  cultivation  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
not  necessary  because  the  olive  grows  on  hilltops  in  the  Old  World, 
should  understand  that  in  "  starting  "  those  trees  great  care  was  neces- 
sary, and  that  the  peculiar  structure  of  the  substrata  enabled  them  in 
the  course  of  years  to  draw  a  water  supply  from  them.  Aside  from  this, 
the  rainfall  in  Europe  is  heavier  than  in  California,  and  more  evenly 
distributed. 

The  olive,  more  than  any  other  fruit  tree,  is  sensitive  to  excess  of 
water;  but  it  must  have  as  much  as  any  other  tree,  if  good,  well-devel- 
oped and  matured  fruit  is  desired.  Striking  examples  of  this  were  seen 
throughout  the  State.  Those  who  doubt  this  are  advised,  for  economy's 
sake,  to  spend  a  few  weeks  visiting  the  olive  orchards  which  are  profita- 
ble, and  then  some  of  those  which  are  not. 


—  7  — 


PLATE  I. 


-Effects  of  Winter  Irrigation  on  Olive  Trees- 
Experiment  Station,  Near  Pomona. 


-Southern  California 


—  8  — 

Attention  is  called  to  the  two  photographs  on  this  page  (Plate  II) 
illustrating  the  effects  of  water  on  the  growth  of  olive  trees.  These 
photographs  were  taken  on  the  place  of  Rev.  J.  Loop,  of  Pomona,  and 
represent  two  olive  trees  thirty  feet  apart  in  the  same  row.  The  trees 
are  of  the  same  age  and  variety,  planted  the  same  day,  and  given  the 


same  care,  excepting  that  No.  1  had  constantly  abundant  water,  while 
No.  2  .had  not.  The  difference  shown  in  the  size  and  vigor  of  the  trees 
is  equaled  by  that  of  the  crops.  No.  1  yielded  regular,  abundant  crops, 
while  No.  2  scarcely  ever  yielded  more  than  a  handful  of  small  olives. 
This  example  of  the  effect  of  water  is  but  one  of  very  many  found 
throughout  the  State. 


—  9  ~ 

One  of  the  striking  illustrations  of  the  effects  of  water  is  shown  in 
Plate  III,  which  is  the  photograph  of  trees  at  the  University  Experiment 
Station  near  Pomona.  The  tree  shown  was  almost  breaking  down  with 
fruit.  The  same  was  noted  at  the  McEwen  orchard  (formerly  the  How- 
land  orchard),  where  irrigation  has  been  rationally  practiced,  together 


PLATE  III.— Effects  of  Proper  Irrigation  on  the  Olive— Southern 
California  Experiment  Station,  Near  Pomona. 


with  proper  cultivation  and  pruning.  On  a  part  of  the  Southern  Cali- 
fornia Experiment  Station,  where  winter  irrigation  had  not  been  prac- 
ticed, there  was  little  or  no  growth  in  1899. 

The  best  example  of  the  effects  of  natural  irrigation  was  found  on  the 
1200-acre  orchard  of  the  California  Olive-Growers'  Association,  at  Sari 


—  10  — 

Fernando.  This  is  situated  in  an  apparently  dry  desert  land,  but  is 
sub-irrigated  by  drainage  from  the  mountains.  The  trees  in  1899  were 
not  irrigated,  yet  the  growth  was  in  many  cases  over  ten  feet. 

In  San  Diego,  Riverside,  Santa  Barbara,  Ventura,  Fresno,  San  Joa- 
quin, Sacramento,  Butte,  and  other  counties  the  same  observation  was 
found  to  be  true;  although  in  many  places  the  effects  of  irrigation  were 
nullified  by  improper  cultivation,  or  by  disease. 

Need  of  Proper  Pruning. 

Another  false  idea  extensively  held  and  carried  into  practice  is  that 
the  olive  needs  no  pruning.  There  is  perhaps  no  tree  known  that 
requires  more  constant  and  systematic  pruning  than  the  olive.  What- 
ever the  form  of  the  tree  may  be  or  the  system  employed,  it  remains  true 
that  pruning  must  not  be  neglected.  The  olive  is  very  generally  believed 
to  be  a  tree  that  yields  but  irregularly.  This,  while  but  too  commonly 
true  in  practice,  is  not  as  a  rule  a  necessary  fault.  In  all  cases  observed, 
not  only  in  California,  but  in  other  countries  of  the  world,  the  tree  has 
been  found  to  be  as  regular  a  bearer  as  any  known  fruit  tree;  provided 
that  it  has  received  proper  care  and  attention  and  is  not  the  victim  of 
accident,  such  as  a  hot  wind  occurring  when  the  tree  has  a  heavy  crop 
of  blossoms. 

As  the  tree  does  not  bear  on  the  young  growth  of  the  year,  a  system 
of  pruning  can  easily  be  adopted  that  will  render  it  seemingly  most 
erratic  in  its  behavior.  It  is,  in  a  large  measure,  due  to  improper  prun- 
ing, or  the  absence  of  pruning,  that  this  widespread  idea  concerning  the 
irregularity  of  the  olive  crop  has  come  to  be  accepted. 

In  but  a  few  orchards  of  the  State  was  proper  pruning  of  the  olive  tree 
found;  indeed,  as  a  rule  the  trees  were  allowed  to  grow  with  no  guidance 
whatsoever;  wherever  rational  pruning  was  practiced,  regular  crops  were 
found  to  be  the  invariable  result.  The  pernicious  teaching  that  "  the 
olive  tree  requires  no  pruning/'"  is  responsible  for  much  of  the  actual 
loss  both  of  crop  and  in  useless  expense  in  harvesting.  Low-pruned 
trees  with  an  actual  bearing  surface  equal  to  that  of  trees  which  have 
been  allowed  to  grow  more  in  the  shape  of  tall  oaks  than  fruit  trees, 
were  harvested  for  a  cent  or  cent  and  a  half  less  per  pound  than  in  the 
case  of  the  high-pruned  trees.  In  the  one  case  a  small  stepladder,  eight 
feet  high,  was  used  for  the  top  picking;  while  in  the  other,  ladders  forty- 
five  feet  high  had  to  be  used.  Where  any  considerable  quantity  of  olives 
are  to  be  picked,  the  saving  made  by  the  use  of  a  system  of  low-pruned 
trees  is  too  obvious  for  further  discussion. 

Objects  to  be  Attained  by  Pruning. — Olive  trees  are  pruned  for  the 
following  purposes: 

(a)  To  give  proper  form  to  the  tree  in  order  to  facilitate  cultivation 
and  harvesting. 


—  11  — 

(b)  To  get  rid  oi  all  useless  wood  and  replace  it  with  wood  that  pro- 
duces fruit.  Each  twig  should  have  its  excuse  for  existing;  and  if  it  is 
useless  it  should  be  mercilessly  suppressed. 

(c)  To  insure  a  regular  crop  of  large  and  uniform  fruit. 

The  olive  tree,  it  must  be  remembered,  bears  fruit  only  on  wood  of  the 
preceding  year  and  never  twice  in  the  same  place.  It  will,  however,  bear 
on  the  prolongation  of  the  fruit  branch. 

The  tendency  of  the  olive  tree,  with  but  few  exceptions,  is  to  give 
most  of  its  vigor  to  tall,  vertical  wood  branches.  If  left  to  itself,  the 
greater  part  of  the  tree's  energy  is  devoted  to  producing  these.  Now,  as 
soon  as  the  branches  are  deflected  from  the  vertical  they  become  capable 
of  bearing  fruit.  The  more  they  leave  the  vertical  and  the  more  they 
hang  down,  the  more  feeble  they  become,  but  at  the  same  time  the  greater 
is  their  productiveness  up  to  the  point  of  becoming  too  feeble  to  make 
growth  or  furnish  sufficient  sap  for  the  nourishment  of  the  fruit;  they 
then  become  "  bark-bound,"  generally  diseased,  and  slowly  perish. 

The  problem  before  the  pruner,  then,  is  to  so  regulate  the  number  and 
kind  of  branches  on  the  tree  that  only  a  sufficient  number  of  wood 
branches  are  left  to  shape  the  tree  or  to  subsequently  furnish  a  place  for 
fruit  branches.  He  must  keep  constantly  in  mind  the  fact  that  nature 
in  its  wise  regulations  of  plant  life  has  so  ruled  that  all  plants,  when 
they  become  feeble  or  when  death  is  imminent,  will  tend  to  reproduce  their 
kind  by  bearing  abundant  crops  of  seeds,  for  nature  cares  not  for  the  size 
of  the  fruit.  The  seed  inclosed  by  the  flesh  is  what  is  provided  for.  It 
is  left  for  man  so  to  regulate  the  tree  by  pruning,  bending,  and  deflecting 
the  branches  that  the  tree  becomes  slightly  weakened;  then  so  to  direct 
and  control  the  sap  supply  that  these  seeds  may  be  clothed  with  abundant 
flesh.  Hence  it  is  that  no  hard-and-fast  rules  for  pruning  can  be  laid 
down.  The  factor  of  judgment  or  common  sense  cannot  be  eliminated 
from  the  problem;  the  pruner  should  learn  to  read  the  requirements  of 
each  tree  as  though  it  were  a  printed  page.  One  tree  may  need  to  be 
severely  cut,  while  another  may  need  but  a  little  pinching-back  with 
the  fingers.  On  one  tree  all  efforts  should  be  bent  toward  the  production 
of  wood  branches  in  order  to  renew  the  vigor  of  the  tree,  it  being  kept 
constantly  in  mind  that  the  root  growth  varies  directly  as  the  wood  and 
leaf  growth,  and  that  a  feeble  tree  can  be  revived  by  severe  pruning  for 
wood  branches,  while  a  too  vigorous  tree  may  be  checked  by  cutting  out 
or  deflecting  the  vertical  wood  branches  and  converting  them  into  fruit 
branches. 

Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  human  body  diseased  or  broken  members 
will  affect  the  entire  organism,  so  it  is  with  trees.  All  diseased,  too 
feeble,  dead  or  dying  branches  will  uselessly  enfeeble  the  tree;  and  they 
are  not  only  worthless  of  themselves,  but  they  occupy  the  space  that 
could  be  occupied  by  branches  that  would  yield  some  return. 


12 


13  — 


—  14    - 

When  to  Prune. — There  is  a  trite  saying  among  the  peasants  of  Europe 
concerning  the  time  of  the  year  to  prune  olive  trees  that  may  well  be 
taken  as  a  good  answer,  viz:  "  Whenever  the  knife  is  sharp"  Of  course, 
the  most  convenient  time  is  immediately  after  the  harvest,  for  at  that 
time  none  of  the  crop  is  lost.  With  young  trees  two  or  more  light 
annual  prunings  should  be  resorted  to,  and  even  trees  with  heavy  crops 
can  be  economically  pruned  by  pinching  back  the  too  vigorous  shoots 
and  thus  saving  a  great  waste  of  energy. 

Very  severe  pruning  is  only  in  very  few  cases  to  be  recommended, 
more  especially  with  young  trees.  Plate  IV  illustrates  how  trees  may  be 
stunted  when  young  by  irrational  pruning.  The  photograph  shows  some 
large  and  some  small  trees  on  the  place  of  George  C.  Roeding  at  Fresno, 
who  has  probably  the  best-pruned  orchard  in  the  State.  These  trees  are 
of  the  same  age  and  same  variety,  and  were  planted  the  same  day. 
The  smaller  ones  were  pruned  by  a  new  man,  who  was  stopped  after 
having  pruned  but  a  few  trees.  The  wisdom  of  dispensing  with  the 
services  of  such  an  "expert  pruner"  is  obvious. 

While  low-pruning  generally  gives  better  results,  there  are  cases  where 
it  is  distinctly  inferior  to  high-pruning.  In  low  ground  where  frosts  are 
to  be  feared,  low-pruning  is  not  advisable. 

It  is  certain  that  air  and  light  are  necessary  for  the  healthy  growth  of 
an  olive  tree.  It  is  also  certain  that  an  excess  of  exposure  (especially 
in  hot  localities)  is  not  to  be  recommended.  Great  care  should  be 
taken  to  shield  the  trunks  of  young  trees  from  the  hot  afternoon  sun. 

It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind,  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  cut  away 
a  large  branch  or  smaller  ones  on  the  main  trunk  of  the  tree,  that  too 
close  cutting  is  bad  practice.  No  branch  should  ever  be  cut  away  closer 
to  the  main  stem  than  the  natural  "  shoulder."  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, but  more  especially  where  high  winds  prevail,  the  top  should  be 
well  cut  back,  which,  with  the  necessity  of  keeping  the  center  of  the  tree 
open  to  the  air  and  light,  will  naturally  give  the  tree  a  vase  shape.  This 
will  be  somewhat  concealed  by  the  fruit  branches  which  hang  downward 
and  the  tree  will  assume  the  appearance  of  a  sphere,  as  is  shown  in 
the  pruned  and  unpruned  trees  in  Plate  V.  Low-pruning  also  greatly 
facilitates  the  operation  of  pruning,  as  well  as  of  picking. 

Great  care  should  be  exercised  in  changing  one  form  to  another,  if 
that  is  desired.  Too  severe  cutting-away  is  very  liable  either  to  kill  the 
tree  outright,  or  to  stunt  and  enfeeble  it  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render 
it  worthless.  This  is  especially  true  in  the  case  of  grafting  old  trees. 
The  shock  is  in  many  cases  too  much  for  the  tree  to  withstand. 

Whatever  be  the  system  employed,  one  thing  must  not  be  slighted; 
and  that  is,  that  as  the  olive  only  bears  on  one-year-old  wood,  the  pruner 
must  prune  regularly  so  as  to  have  a  constant  supply  of  such  wood  on 
hand  so  that  he  may  get  a  regular  crop  of  blossoms. 


—  15  — 

Loss  of  Crop  from  Failure  to  "  Set." 

In  many  cases  great  loss  has  resulted  from  the  failure  of  the  fruit  to 
"  set."     Many  very  interesting  cases  of  this  trouble  were  found. 

It  is  claimed  by  many  eminent  authorities  that  the  olive  should  be 
cross-pollinated.  While  it  is  true  that  there  have  been  many  experi- 
ments reported  which  would  seem  to  give  some  color  to  this  apparent 
lack  of  self-fertility,  yet  the  writer  is  not  at  all  prepared  to  admit  that 
it  is  a  necessity,  but  only  an  occasional  help,  owing  to  some  accident. 
In  the  first  place,  botanically  the  olive  blossom  is  "  perfect,"  or  self- 
fertilizing.  Isolated  trees  separated  by  mountain  ranges  bear  regularly 
and  set  as  much  fruit  as  is  good  for  any  vigorous  tree  to  bear.  Whole 
blocks  of  almost  all  of  the  known  varieties  produce  regular  crops,  though 
miles  away  from  any  other  variety.  Then  again,  if  there  were  anything 
in  the  theory  of  cross-pollination  it  would  be  noted  that  where  two 
blocks  of  varieties  touch,  the  trees  nearest  each  other  would  set  their 
fruit  better  than  those  on  the  farther  sides  of  the  blocks.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  case. 

Cross-pOllination  is  perfectly  harmless  to  experiment  with,  and  in 
some  cases  where  there  is  malformation  of  the  blossom,  due  to  excess  of 
vigor  or  to  weakness,  etc.,  it  does  good. 

Probably  the  most  practical  remedy  thus  far  found  for  failure  to  "set" 
is  to  keep  a  dozen  stands  of  bees  in  each  twenty  acres  of  trees  during  the 
blossoming  period.  This  has  been  tried  in  many  cases  and  has  proved 
to  be  inexpensive  as  well  as  effective. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  when,  at  blossoming  time,  there  arises 
one  of  the  dry  winds — "northers" — the  chances  of  getting  any  kind  of 
fruit  to  "set"  are  few  indeed,  for  the  wind  dries  up  the  delicate  organs 
of  the  blossom  and  renders  fertilization  impossible. 

Diseases. 

The  diseases  of  the  olive  tree  can  be  divided  into  two  classes:  those 
that  attack  the  tree  itself,  and  those  that  attack  the  fruit.  Among  the 
former,  the  commonest  and  most  troublesome  thus  far  found  in  Califor- 
nia is  the  Black  Scale  (Lecanium  oleae),  with  its  accompanying  fungus 
the  Black  Smut  (Meliola  sp.).  It  is,  however,  true  that  other  scale 
insects  are  occasionally  found  on  the  olive  tree.  The  scale  not  only 
sucks  the  sap  of  the  tree,  but  when  young  and  migrating,  excretes  the 
"honey-dew,"  which  at  once  becomes  the  home  of  the  fungus  known  as 
the  "  black  smut."  In  few  cases  do  these  diseases  cause  the  death  of 
the  tree.  Ordinarily  they  only  check  its  growth  and  vigor  to  such  an 
extent  that  (in  severe  cases)  no  crop  or  wood  growth  is  produced. 

The  scale  insects  and  resulting  diseases  are  found  most  frequently 
along  the  coast,  in  the  foggy  regions.  These  diseases,  viz:  the  scale  and 
the  smut,  can  be  kept  so  far  in  check  as  to  do  no  practical  damage  to 


—  16  — 

the  tree.  The  means  thus  far  employed  are  the  use  of  washes  and 
fumigation;  in  some  districts  the  Australian  ladybirds  have  been  found 
•effectual  in  checking  the  disease.  There  is  a  decided  conflict  of  opinion 
among  olive-growers  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  these  remedies  for  com- 
bating the  above-named  diseases.  The  writer  had  occasion  to  see  most 
striking  instances  of  the  efficacy  of  both  of  these  methods,  and  on  the 
other  hand  as  many,  fully  as  striking,  of  the  failure  of  each.  There 
would  seem  to  be  an  intervention  of  local  conditions  which  render  it 
more  difficult  in  some  cases  to  successfully  apply  these  remedies  than  in 
others.  Thus  the  subject  is  not  sufficiently  well  studied  at  present  to 
render  it  advisable  for  the  writer  to  definitely  recommend  the  exclusive 
use  of  either. 

Olive  Knot. — The  only  other  disease  that  would  seem  to  be  of  any  real 
danger  to  the  tree  is  the  olive  knot.  This  appears  as  woody  tumors  on 
the  leaves,  branches,  and  stems  (particularly  on  the  small  stems)  of 
the  olive  tree  of  all  ages.  It  is  confined  to  the  warmer  localities,  and 
especially  to  hot,  over-moist  soils.  The  size  of  the  tumors  on  the 
leaves  varies  from  that  of  a  pinhead  to  that  of  a  pea. 

This  disease  is  caused  by  a  certain  species  of  bacterium  which  com- 
mences to  grow  just  under  the  bark  and  leaves  in  the  interior  of  the 
tumor  it  produces.  It  is  carried  from  tree  to  tree  by  pruning  instru- 
ments, also  probably  by  insects.  It  will  only  attack  trees  which  are 
vigorous  and  full  of  sap.  The  varieties  which  are  most  valuable  for 
their  fruit  (that  is,  those  removed  from  the  wild  type)  are  the  most 
subject  to  attack.  This  disease  has  been  found  in  California,  but  in  such 
isolated  localities  that  it  is  not  to  be  greatly  feared  at  present.  How- 
ever, great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  introduction  of  nursery  stock 
from  infected  districts.  The  writer  believes  that  the  prompt  action  of 
the  County  Horticultural  Commissioners  and  olive-growers  in  the 
infected  districts  has  successfully  eradicated  this  disease  from  the  State. 
This,  however,  cannot  be  stated  positively  at  present. 

Diseases  of  the  Fruit. — Aside  from  the  diseases  of  the  olive  tree  above 
mentioned,  the  investigation  brought  out  the  fact  that  certain  varieties 
of  olives  grown  in  California  are  subject  to  diseases  which  render  them 
unfit  for  use.  This  trouble  was  first  noted  in  California  in  1897,  and  has 
since  spread  all  over  the  State.  So  far  as  the  writer  is  able  to  judge, 
these  diseases  are  not  known  in  other  olive-growing  countries  of  the  world; 
hence  the  previous  recommendation  of  certain  varieties  grown  in  Europe 
and  elsewhere  (which  was  made  by  the  writer  and  by  the  most  distin- 
guished oiive  experts  of  the  State)  will  have  to  be  modified,  as  the  pres- 
ence of  these  diseases  alone  in  many  cases  is  sufficient  to  render  many 
of  them  unprofitable. 

Described  in  a  general  way,  the  trouble  is  a  dry  rot  of  the  fruit,  which 


—  17  — 

attacks  it  just  as  the  drupe  has  or  is  beginning  to  mature  or  change 
color.     This  decay  of  the  flesh  tissues  manifests  itself  in  three  ways: 

(a)  It  starts  at  the  blossom  end  and  works  toward  the  stem  end  of 
the  drupe,  finally  causing  it  to  fall  to  the  ground  or  dry  out  on  the  tree. 

(b)  The  decomposition  of  the  flesh  cells  and  the  destruction  of  their 
contents  is  first  noted  at  the  pit  itself,  from  which  point  it  works  out- 
ward until  it  reaches  the  skin. 

(c)  The  decomposition  seems  to  start  at  the  outer  surface  of  the  drupe 
in  small  isolated  spots,  from  which  it  works  inward  until  it  reaches  the 
pit.  These  markings  resemble  the  wound  made  by  a  fine  needle  pierc- 
ing the  olive  (generally  at  an  angle).,  the  decay  taking  place  along  the 
path  thus  made.  There  is  no  trace  of  the  skin  having  been  broken, 
though  in  some  cases  the  irregular  coloring  at  the  external  end  of  the 
path  is  noted. 

It  is  claimed  by  some  that  in  some  cases  large  fleshy  olives,  such  as 
the  Sevillano,  Picholine,  etc.,  are  affected  by  these  diseases.  Investiga- 
tion, however,  convinced  the  writer  that  the  decay  referred  to  was  the 
natural  decay  observed  in  the  case  of  all  overripe  fleshy  fruits,  which 
should  not  be  confused  with  the  three  "  dry  rots  "  above  described. 

These  diseases  seem  to  be  restricted  to  certain  varieties.  While  no 
names  have  thus  far  been  given  to  the  various  kinds  of  dry  rot  above 
described,  they  may  be  distinguished  by  the  names  of  the  varieties  of 
olives  upon  which  they  were  first  noted  and  are  most  commonly  found; 
thus, 

(a)  (the  one  that  starts  at  the  blossom  end)  was  first  noted  on  the 
Nevadillo  Blanco,  though  it  also  occurs  on  the  Rubra  and  Pleureur  de 
Grasse. 

(b)  This  was  first  noted  on  the  Manzanillo,  but  it  is  also  found  on  the 
Obliza  and  on  some  of  the  large  fleshy  olives. 

(c)  This  form  is  found  thus  far  only  on  the  Columbella. 

During  the  three  months  of  investigation,  the  writer  never  once  failed 
to  find  these  diseases  on  the  varieties  above  named.  From  Oroville  to 
the  Mexican  frontier  not  a  single  Nevadillo  Blanco,  Manzanillo,  Pleu- 
reur de  Grasse,  Obliza,  or  Columbella  was  found  that  did  not  show  the 
disease  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  In  one  orchard  over  ninety  per  cent 
of  the  crop  was  destroyed,  though  the  olives  had  scarcely  turned  color; 
the  trees  were  Pleureur  de  Grasse,  which  usually  has  at  least  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  of  fruit  to  the  tree.  In  certain  cases  of  isolated  trees 
the  rot  was  found. 

The  resident  agent  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
taken  the  matter  up  and  is  testing  certain  washes  from  which  good 
results  are  hoped  for. 

The  Olive  Fly  (Dacus  olese),  which  is  causing  such  havoc  in  Italy  and 
southern  France,  has  not  thus  far  reached  this  country. 
2— b!29 


—  18  - 
COMMERCIAL   CONDITIONS. 

Demand  for  Olive  Oil. — The  greatest  difficulty  seems  to  be  found  in 
disposing  of  California  olive  oil  at  remunerative  prices.  While  there  are 
some  oil-makers  who,  after  years  of  patient  and  expensive  struggle,  have 
created  a  paying  market,  the  majority  seem  to  lose  money  on  oil-making 
and  are  very  much  discouraged.  While  they  themselves  are,  in  many 
cases,  chiefly  to  blame  for  putting  on  the  market  rancid  or  poorly  made 
oil,  it  is  equally  true  that  even  some  of  the  best  oil  is  with  difficulty  sold 
on  account  of  the  competition  with  cottonseed  oil.  The  cottonseed  oil 
is  not  sold  as  such,  but  when  flavored  with  some  genuine  oil,  either  as 
"  Pure  California  Olive  Oil,"  "  Pure  Olive  Oil,"  "  Pure  Lucca  Table  Oil," 
"  Pure  Sweet  Oil,"  "  Salad  Oil,"  or  some  such  designation  whereby  the 
public  is  deceived.  It  is  beyond  dispute  that  the  public  has  the  inten- 
tion of  purchasing  "olive  oil"  when  they  are  buying  "salad  oil"  or 
"sweet  oil,"  and  it  is  equally  true  that  shameful  deceptions  are 
practiced.  The  olive-oil  maker  has  absolutely  no  protection  from  the 
unscrupulous  seller  of  cottonseed  oil.  Olive  oil  cannot  be  made  profit- 
able unless  the  grower  can  receive  75  cents  per  quart  for  his  product,  for 
it  costs  him  almost  that  to  manufacture  it.  On  the  other  hand,  cottonseed 
oil  can  be  sold  at  a  large  profit  at  10  cents  per  quart.  Aside,  then,  from 
the  imperfect  methods  that  in  many  instances  prevail,  there  is  at  present 
but  a  small  demand  for  the  high-priced  olive  oil  of  even  some  well-known 
grower  who  has  earned  a  reputation  for  honesty.  The  peculiar  value  of 
olive  oil  for  medicinal  and  hygienic  uses  has  been  established  for  cen- 
turies the  world  over  and  is  daily  becoming  more  esteemed.  To  say  the 
least,  nothing  is  known  concerning  the  medicinal  properties  of  cottonseed 
oil. 

In  passing,  it  must  be  noted  that  those  who  would  buy  olive  oil  are  too 
often  so  anxious  to  save  a  few  cents  that  they  materially  assist  the  fraud- 
ulent dealers  in  cottonseed  oil,  under  its  various  disguises,  by  attempting 
to  buy  for  25  cents  what  costs  40  cents  to  manufacture.  Those  who  have 
created  a  market  for  pure  high-priced  oil,  sell  it  all;  but  there  are  unfortu- 
nately few  such.  Mr.  Ellwood  Cooper  sold  every  gallon  of  his  oil  last 
year  at  his  own  price;  but  it  took  him  twenty  years  and  a  great  deal  of 
money  to  be  able  to  do  so.  There  are  oil-makers  in  Oroville  and  Au- 
burn, and  in  Contra  Costa,  Santa  Clara,  San  Diego,  and  other  counties, 
who  have  succeeded  in  making  oil  profitable  in  the  same  way. 

The  cost  of  oil  machinery,  and  the  necessity  of  creating  a  market  in 
the  face  of  the  difficulties  just  mentioned,  should  deter  those  with  small 
capital  from  going  into  olive  planting  with  the  idea  of  making  oil  for 
profit. 

The  danger  of  competition  from  cheap  foreign  olive  oils  is  not  consid- 
erable. The  real  danger  arises  from  these  cheap  olive  oils  losing  their 
identity  in  eighty  or  ninety  per  cent  of  cottonseed  oil,  which  is  either 


—  19  — 

mixed  with  it  on  arriving  in  the  United  States,  or  in  such  famous  places 
as  Nice,  Marseilles,  Lucca,  Leghorn,  etc.  The  writer  in  1893  called  atten- 
tion to  the  extensive  use  of  cottonseed  oil  as  an  adulterant  in  both 
export  and  domestic  foreign  oils.  While  the  imputation  has  been  very 
vigorously  resented  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Nice  and  a  few 
others,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  this  practice  has  increased  and  is  in- 
creasing rapidly.  The  writer  has  seen  it  practiced  in  foreign  countries. 
Those  who  believe  that  all  foreign  oils  are  pure,  are  recommended  to  read 
the  protests  of  the  Nice  oil-makers  (made  in  1889-92  to  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  at  Paris)  against  the  shameful  adulteration  of  olive  oil  with 
cottonseed  oil.  It  would  seem  that  in  late  years  the  grower  has  given  up 
protesting  and  gracefully  mixes  cotton  seed  with  his  olive  oil  at  his  oil 
mill  or  elsewhere. 

There  is  no  objection  on  the  part  of  olive-growers  to  the  use  of  cotton- 
seed oil,  if  sold  as  such,  and  not  labeled  "  olive  oil, "  or  with  some  de- 
ceiving mark  whereby  the  would-be  purchaser  of  olive  oil  buys  chiefly 
the  product  of  the  cotton-gin. 

Until  some  national  law  is  passed  which  will  protect  the  olive-grower 
just  as  the  butter-maker  was  protected  by  the  "  oleomargarin  "  law,  the 
olive-oil  producer  cannot  be  generally  successful. 

Demand  for  Pickled  Olives. — There  is  a  large  and  growing  demand  for 
olives  in  the  form  of  ripe  pickles.  The  merchants  all  over  the  State  tes- 
tified to  the  growing  demand  for  ripe  pickled  olives  and  stated  that  for 
large  ripe  olives,  if  sound,  they  would  pay  75  cents  per  gallon  f.  o.  b.  and 
lower  prices  for  smaller  grades.  Some  paid  as  high  as  $1.50  per  gallon 
for  the  ripe  pickles.  The  demand  from  the  East  is  very  large,  and  is 
growing  more  and  more  persistent.  Some  of  the  successful  growers  now 
dispose  of  their  entire  crops  in  Eastern  markets  at  highly  remunerative 
rates.  The  only  complaint  heard  from  the  wholesale  and  retail  mer- 
chants concerning  the  pickled-olive  industry  was  that  they  found  it 
impossible  to  secure  a  sufficient  quantity  of  sound,  well-keeping  olives  to 
supply  their  customers. 

There  is  a  ready  market  for  standard  size  green  pickles,  as  well  as  for 
ripe  pickles. 

Olives  should  be  grown  for  pickling,  and  pickles  should  be  relied  upon 
to  yield  the  profit;  while  the  smaller  olives  (just  as  valuable  for  oil- 
making)  can  be  disposed  of  to  the  oil-maker,  and  thus  no  inconsiderable 
sum  can  be  realized  from  small  fruit,  which  should  be  regarded  as  a  by- 
product only,  except  in  cases  where  the  grower  has  a  mill  of  his  own.  • 

In  all  that  has  preceded  it  has  been  assumed  that  the  manufacturer 
of  olive  oil,  or  pickles,  knows  his  business  and  puts  upon  the  market 
only  a  sound,  well-manufactured  article.  Unfortunately  this  is  not 
generally  the  case,  and  because  of  this  much  loss  has  resulted.     No  man- 


— •  20  — 

ufacturer  of  furniture  can  hope  for  success  if  he  uses  rotten  wood,  neither 
can  any  one  hope  to  make  sound  pickles  or  oil  out  of  bruised  or  decayed 
olives;  yet  such  practice  was  found  in  almost  all  parts  of  the  State. 

Unsound  olives  are  not  only  worthless  in  themselves,  but  contaminate 
and  destroy  the  value  of  the  rest  of  the  crop. 

Self-evident  as  this  may  seem,  yet  it  is  the  most  important  cause  of 
failure  (when  failure  was  noted)  among  the  olive-growers  of  the  State.  It 
would  not  be  so  much  to  be  regretted  if  the  harm  was  done  to  the  indi- 
vidual maker  of  unsound  oil  or  pickles;  but  unfortunately  it  greatly 
injures  the  reputation  of  all  California  olive  products,  and  does  injury 
that  is  more  dangerous  and  far  reaching  in  its  effects  than  the  mere 
bankruptcy  of  one  olive-grower. 

PICKLING  THE   OLIVE. 

In  many  cases  brought  to  our  attention  either  by  consumers,  merchants, 
or  growers,  much  doubt  was  expressed  concerning  the  possibility  of  pre- 
serving ripe  olives  so  that  they  would  keep  sufficiently  well  to  be  shipped 
and  consumed  at  a  reasonable  time  after  putting  up.  Many  persons 
went  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  a  ripe  olive  could  not  be  kept  sound  and 
edible  for  more  than  three  months.  This  is  a  grave  error.  Ripe  properly 
pickled  olives  can  be  kept  for  three  years  without  any  material  deteriora- 
tion in  quality.  The  writer  has  had  occasion  to  prove  this  many  times  in 
past  years,  as  well  as  during  the  progress  of  the  present  investigation. 
In  cases  where  the  olives  spoiled  within  a  few  months,  the  blame  inva- 
riably lay  with  those  who  picked  and  pickled  the  olives,  seldom  with  the 
merchant  or  consumer. 

It  should  be  understood  once  for  all  that  the  market  will  not  tolerate 
unsound  pickles.  It  is  idle  for  any  one  to  claim  that  he  cannot  pickle 
his  olives  so  that  they  will  keep  in  marketable  condition  for  a  year  or 
more.  The  fact  remains  that  very  many  do  succeed  in  so  doing,  and  if 
others  do  not,  they  should  learn  how.  Otherwise  it  is  probably  best  for 
the  industry  that  they  should  take  up  some  other  line  of  work. 

The  causes  of  failure  are  known  and  avoidable.  The  only  essential  in 
the  process  is  care  and  exactness.  No  careless  person  can  ever  hope  to 
succeed.  Failure  simply  means  that  there  has  been  carelessness  during 
the  process. 

The  process  of  pickling  ripe  olives  seems  so  very  simple  at  first  glance 
that  the  grower  frequently  works  carelessly.  The  common  belief  seems 
to  be  that  there  is  an  invariable  rule  by  which  all  olives  can  be  treated; 
that  the  element  of  common  sense  can  be  eliminated  from  the  problem; 
and  that  the  slipshod  procedure  commonly  called  "more-or-less  method" 
can  be  practiced  with  impunity.  It  is  to  show  the  erroneousness  of  this 
idea  that  this  article  is  written.  So  many  complicating  circumstances 
enter  into  the  problem,  requiring  the  exercise  of  so  much  close  observa- 


—  21  — 

tion  and  judgment,  that  ali  the  Experiment  Station  can  do  is  to  indicate 
the  general  lines  of  procedure,  and  warn  the  beginner  against  common 
errors.  No  hard-and-fast  prescription  can  be  given  that  will  lead  to  suc- 
cess in  more  than  a  few  cases. 

Objects  to  be  Attained  in  Pickling. — The  two  great  objects  to  be  attained 
by  the  process  of  pickling  are:  First,  to  remove  (measurably)  the 
''bitterness,"  or  more  properly  tartness,  of  the  fruit,  and  make  it  agree- 
able to  the  taste;  second,  to  preserve  it  so  that  it  can  be  used  at  some 
future  time  without  the  loss  of  any  of  its  good  qualities. 

Bitterness. — The  olive  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  vegetable  acids 
and  an  acrid  substance  called  "  olivil."  It  is  a  mistake  to  attribute  the 
"bitterness"  of  the  olive  to  tannic  acid.  While  there  is  a  considerable 
quantity  of  tannin  in  the  fruit,  it  is  not  this  that  causes  the  trouble. 
Olivil  has  been  little  studied  in  this  connection  by  chemists;  but  we  know 
that  it  is  readily  soluble  in  water,  and  can  be  neutralized  by  soda  and 
potash,  or  dissolved  out  by  pure  water. 

The  quantity  of  this  acrid  principle  varies  according  to  the  soil  and 
climate,  and  to  the  state  of  maturity  and  variety  of  the  olive,  and  even 
from  season  to  season,  other  things  being  equal.  It  is  owing  to  this  fact, 
i.  e.,  variation  of  the  degree  of  acridity,  that  we  are  unable  to  make  hard- 
and-fast  rules  that  will  fit  all  cases.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  we 
must  never  sacrifice  the  keeping  qualities  of  the  olive  to  the  mere  re- 
moval of  the  "bitterness."  It  is  better  to  have  a  slightly  tart  pickle 
than  one  that  is  perfectly  neutral  in  taste.  It  is  pretty  well  established 
by  long  experience  that  "tart"  pickles  will  keep  better  than  the  neutral 
ones.  In  fact,  neutral  pickles  seldom  are  fit  for  food  after  a  few  months, 
and  the  market  for  them  is  extremely  limited. 

This  naturally  brings  up  the  question  of  the  amount  of  "  bitterness  " 
that  should  be  left  in  the  pickle.  The  public  taste  is  not  at  all  uniform 
in  this  regard — some  desiring  olives  to  be  perfectly  neutral  in  taste, 
while  others  will  not  be  satisfied  unless  there  is  a  very  decided  tartness 
remaining.  As  the  taste  for  pickled  olives  is  to  a  certain  degree  a  culti- 
vated one,  it  would  seem  wise  to  set  the  standard  from  the  first  so  that 
all  ripe  pickled  olives  shall  have  a  perceptible  amount  of  tartness 
remaining,  as  this  is  not  only  healthful,  but  conduces  to  the  keeping 
qualities  of  the  pickle. 

The  acrid  principle  is  in  solution  in  the  juice  of  the  olive,  which  is 
evenly  distributed  throughout  the  flesh  cells.  It  can  be  removed  either 
by  the  action  of  pure  water,  or  by  the  combined  action  of  lye  and  water. 
In  either  case  the  water,  or  the  lye  and  water,  act  by  "  diffusion. "  The 
water  alone  acts  upon  the  uncombined  acid  and  acrid  principles  very 
slowly,  on  account  of  the  compactness  of  the  cells  of  the  skin  and  flesh, 
as  well  as  the  very  slight  difference  in  the  specific  gravity  of  the  two. 


—  22  — 

When  lye  is  used,  the  potash  or  soda,  or  both  together,  attack  the  skin 
as  well  as  the  flesh  cells,  and  render  them  both  more  porous.  They  also 
neutralize  the  acids  and  acrid  principles  and,  combining,  render  diffu- 
sion more  rapid. 

It  is  owing  to  the  compactness  of  these  skin  and  flesh  cells  that  in 
many  portions  of  the  State  slits  are  made  in  the  olive  so  as  to  render  it  less 
difficult  for  the  water  to  reach  the  acrid  principles.  While  this  slitting 
certainly  hastens  the  process  very  considerably,  it  diminishes  to  a  great 
extent  the  attractiveness  and  keeping  qualities  of  the  fruit.  Even  slit 
olives  generally  require  soaking  in  pure  water  (changed  twice  daily)  for 
a  period  of  from  twenty-one  to  thirty  days,  according  to  the  season  and 
variety. 

The  great  danger  in  the  use  of  "lye,"  more  especially  of  soda,  is  that 
it  is  used  so  strong,  or  for  so  long  a  time,  that  the  tissues  of  the  fruit  are 
unduly  softened  and  disintegrated,  thus  making  it  a  fertile  field  for  the 
growth  of  innumerable  micro-organisms,  which,  in  developing,  rapidly 
cause  the  fruit  to  become  unfit  for  use.  Aside  from  this  softening 
effect,  strong  lye  will  saponify  a  certain  amount  of  the  oil  in  the  olive, 
thus  taking  awaj^  a  certain  proportion  of  its  nourishing  value.  This  loss 
was  found  by  Mr.  Colby,  of  this  Station,  to  be  about  three  per  cent  of  the 
entire  oil-contents. 

Preservation  from  Fungous  and  Bacterial  Growths. — A  "  spoilt  "  olive 
is  merely  one  that  has  been  decomposed  by  bacteria  and  other  micro- 
organisms, which  as  a  rule  are  harmless  to  the  human  system,  yet  are 
none  the  less  fatal  to  the  taste  and  structure  of  the  olive.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  preserve  a  soft  olive  without  the  use  of  strong  antiseptics — 
a  practice  that  cannot  be  recommended.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  such 
great  stress  is  always  laid  on  the  importance  of  never  bruising  the  fruit, 
either  during  the  picking  or  handling  of  the  crop,  or  in  the  subsequent 
treatment  or  handling. 

Frozen  olives  are  practically  such  as  have  been  thoroughly  bruised. 
The  water  of  the  juice,  in  freezing,  expands  and  thus  tears  the  minute 
flesh  cells  (resembling  miniature  honey-comb  cells),  rendering  the  entire 
olive  a  mass  of  wreckage.  The  presence  of  a  few  soft  (bruised  or  frozen) 
olives,  acting  as  a  breeding-place  for  numberless  micro-organisms,  in  a 
short  time  infects  the  rest  with  disease,  and  speedily  brings  about  the 
ruin  of  the  entire  vat  or  barrel.  Moulds  or  fungi  are,  as  a  rule,  not  as 
dangerous  as  the  smaller  bacteria.  These  dangerous  micro-organisms 
are,  in  fact,  plants,  and  the  bruising  of  the  fruit  in  which  they  grow  is 
equivalent  to  the  plowing  and  harrowing  of  moist  rich  land,  which,  in  a 
perfectly  firm,  hard,  dry  state,  would  not  permit  any  plant  to  grow 
thereon. 

Those  who  think  that  too  much  stress  is  laid  upon  this  subject,  should 


—  23  — 

learn  that  the  bruising  of  olives  alone  is  the  cause  of  an  annual  loss  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  State. 

Most  of  the  fungi  develop  at  the  surface  of  the  liquid  in  which  the  olives 
are  being  treated  or  preserved,  and  there  is  little  danger  if  the  latter  be 
well  covered  with  liquid  and  the  floating  cover  be  kept  well  cleansed. 
If  the  floating  mould  be  allowed  to  sink  to  the  lower  strata  of  the  liquid* 
the  germs  do  not  die;  but  their  attacks  are  less  to  be  feared  than  those  of 
the  bacteria.  The  reason  is  that  fungi  are,  as  a  rule,  dependent  upon 
oxygen  of  the  air  for  their  proper  development,  while  most  bacteria  are  not. 
Examination  of  numerous  samples  of  olives  that  have  been  badly  pickled 
or  that  have  "gone  wrong"  during  or  after  the  process  of  curing,  showed 
that  the  liquid  in  which  the  olives  were  kept  was  full  of  all  kinds  of  algae, 
inactive  mycelia  of  fungi  that  had  been  submerged,  and  more  especially 
a  great  number  of  putrid  ferments  (Bacterium  termo,  et  al.).  In  some  the 
lactic  and  butyric  ferments  predominated,  giving  the  whole  a  character- 
istic odor  and  taste. 

When  once  a  package  of  olives  has  become  infested  with  these  micro- 
organisms, it  impossible  to  restore  the  original  flavor.  It  is  then  of 
little  use  to  resort  to  the  use  of  antiseptics,  for  the  original  flavor  of  the 
olive  will  have  been  changed  or  destroyed;  foreign  flavors  will  have 
gained  such  a  firm  foothold  that  it  would  do  very  little  good  to  resort  to 
the  use  of  agents  that  are  more  or  less  dangerous  to  the  human  system 
and  can  at  best  but  stop  further  development  of  bacteria,  etc.,  without 
correcting  the  taste. 

In  preserving  olives  we  must,  then,  bend  all  our  energies  to  prevent 
the  germination  and  development  of  these  disease  germs.  One  of  the 
most  practical  methods  is  the  use  of  only  pure  water,  and  never  to  allow 
this  to  stand  long  enough  to  become  sufficiently  impregnated  with  the 
juices  that  it  may  nourish  the  organisms  that  cause  the  destruction  of 
the  olive  if  they  have  time  to  germinate  therein. 

At  ordinary  temperatures,  and  in  nutritive  media,  the  bacteria  will 
develop  in  twenty-four  hours.  Hence  by  using  only  pure  water  and 
changing  this  at  least  twice  in  twenty-four  hours,  little  danger  need 
be  feared,  for  by  the  time  the  water  has  become  charged  with  nutritive 
substances  and  is  capable  of  developing  germs  so  far  as  to  injure  the 
olives,  it  is  drawn  off  and  gives  place  to  a  new  supply  of  pure  water. 
The  floating  cover  will  measurably  protect  the  vat  from  accumulat- 
ing a  new  crop  of  germs.  Canal  water,  creek  water,  water  that  has 
passed  over  decayed  vegetable  matter,  or  water  that  comes  from  tanks 
or  reservoirs  in  which  it  has  stood  a  long  time  exposed  to  the  sun  and 
air,  must  not  be  used.  The  best  water  for  pickling  purposes  is  distilled 
water.  This  can  be  readily  had  in  the  vicinity  of  steam  engines,  by 
merely  condensing  the  waste  steam.  In  the  absence  of  condensed  steam 
or  boiled  wTater,  any  fresh,  pure  water  may  be  used. 


—  24  — 

The  scum  that  forms  at  the  edges  of  the  vats  at  the  water  line,  or  on 
the  floating  cover,  should  be  removed,  and  the  sides  scrubbed  and  scalded 
whenever  this  scum  appears.     This  is  most  important. 

It  is  also  highly  important  that  the  olives,  from  the  time  they  are  picked 
to  the  time  they  are  consumed,  should  be  kept  at  as  low  a  temperature  as 
possible.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  higher  the  temperature  of  the 
brine  or  water  in  which  the  olives  are  kept,  the  smaller  the  chance  of 
making  a  sound  pickle,  or  of  keeping  it.  Too  many  instances  were  noted 
where  the  olives,  after  picking  and  pickling,  were  kept  in  hot  warehouses, 
or  exposed  to  the  direct  rays  of  the  sun.  Pickles  should  be  exposed  to 
the  light  as  little  as  possible,  and  above  all,  partly  cured  olives  should 
not  be  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  air  and  light  for  any  length  of  time. 

Many  who  pickle  olives  attempt  to  deepen  the  color  of  the  olive  by 
exposing  it  to  the  action  of  the  air.  This  is  a  practice  in  no  case  to  be 
recommended.  While  it  is  true  that  the  color  is  affected,  yet  instead  of 
blackening  the  olive  it  browns  it,  while  it  is  certain  to  diminish  the 
keeping  qualities  of  the  pickle. 

Effects  of  Salt. — The  foregoing  remarks  apply  to  the  pure  water  used 
during  the  various  "  soakings  "  that  the  olives  undergo  during  their 
preparation.  When  salt  is  added  to  the  water  it  is  to  accomplish  a  two- 
fold object:  First,  it  causes  the  pores  of  the  skin  and  tissues  of  the  flesh 
to  shrink,  thus  rendering  the  whole  flesh  firmer.  The  various  "soakings" 
in  lye  or  fresh  water  during  the  preparatory  operations  cause  the  tissues 
of  the  olive  to  relax,  and  one  object  of  the  salt  is  to  harden  the  flesh. 
This  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  subsequent  welfare  of 
the  pickle.  If,  however,  the  salt  be  applied  in  large  amounts  at  once,  the 
contraction  of  the  tissue  is  too.  rapid  and  uneven,  causing  the  olive  to 
"  shrivel"  or  crease.  In  order  to  obviate  this  difficulty  the  salt  is  added 
in  small  doses,  progressively. 

The  second  object  attained  by  the  use  of  salt  in  the  brine  is  to  prevent 
the  germination  and  growth  of  the  ever-present  bacterial  germs,  salt 
being  a  mild  antiseptic.  It  is  not,  however,  powerful  enough  to  kill 
either  the  bacteria  or  their  germs,  or,  indeed,  to  prevent  growth  and 
germination  in  all  cases.  It  is  merely  a  very  unfavorable  medium  for 
these  micro-organisms,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  if  a  very  strong  brine 
be  put  on  olives  that  are  already  far  gone  with  bacteria,  these  latter  will, 
nevertheless,  continue  to  develop  and  finally  spoil  the  whole.  The  anti- 
septic power  of  salt  is,  however,  sufficient  to  preserve  sound  olives  for 
a  comparatively  long  time. 

Besides  these  two  important  offices  of  salt  there  is  another,  viz:  that 
of  imparting  to  the  flesh  a  salty  or  "  pickle  "  taste.  Vinegar,  spices,  etc., 
are  sometimes  added  to  the  preserving  liquid  to  give  an  agreeable  flavor. 
The  use  of  vinegar  in  salt  brine  is  objectionable  on  account  of  the 
taste  it  imparts,  which  is  not  agreeable  to  many  persons;  it  also  tends  to 
soften  the  pickle. 


—  25  — 

Use  of  Caustic  Solutions. — There  is  an  error  frequently  committed  in 
the  use  of  lye  which  should  receive  mention  at  the  very  outset.  It  is, 
that  even  when  lye  of  the  proper  prescribed  strength  is  used,  the  amount 
of  the  solution  employed  for  a  given  measure  of  olives  is  often  exces- 
sive, and  the  injury  thus  done  may  be  as  great  as  if  too  strong  a  solution 
had  been  used.  It  should  be  understood  in  all  cases  that  the  prescrip- 
tion as  to  time  and  strength  of  solution  applies  to  the  use  of  just  enough 
to  cover  the  fruit  and  the  floating  cover  that  keeps  it  submerged.  On  no 
other  basis  can  any  prescription  or  practice  be  made  sufficiently 
definite.  Simple  and  obvious  as  this  may  seem,  it  was  found  to  be  the 
cause  of  failure  in  many  parts  of  the  State. 

Since,  in  the  process  of  extraction,  the  solution  tends  to  become  of  un- 
equal density  and  concentration  in  its  different  portions,  it  is  customary 
to  pump  or  draw  off  the  lye  from  the  bottom  and  put  it  on  the  top  of 
the  tank  or  vat  repeatedly,  in  order  that  the  density  may  be  equalized 
throughout  the  mass  and  the  effect  thus  rendered  uniform.  If  this  be 
not  carefully  attended  to  it  will  be  found  that  some  of  the  olives  have 
been  too  much  attacked  by  the  lye,  while  others  remain  bitter;  moreover, 
the  upper  layer  of  fruit  will  be  found  to  be  spotted,  and  the  keeping 
qualities  injured.  In  no  case  should  the  circulation  of  the  lye  solution  be 
brought  about  by  rolling  the  barrels,  as  was  observed  in  some  places. 
If  a  wooden  paddle  or  stick  be  used,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  agitate 
the  lye  and  olives  too  violently,  for  bruising  will  invariably  result. 

Use  of  Boiled  Water. — Another  fact  worth  remembering  in  the  handling 
of  olives  is  that  the  boiling  of  water  kills  all  germs  and  expels  all  the  air 
that  has  been  absorbed.  Ordinary  water  will  absorb  a  considerable 
quantity  of  air,  which  is  richer  in  oxygen  than  the  atmospheric  air  we 
breathe.  This  is  important,  for  oxygen  is,  as  a  general  rule,  favorable 
to  the  development  of  most  micro-organisms.  As  the  chief  problem  is 
to  prevent  this  development  in  the  liquids  in  which  the  olives  are  treated 
or  preserved,  this  gives  us  a  clew  to  the  value  of  the  use  of  boiled  water. 
Boiling  kills  the  germs  present  and  expels  the  oxygen,  and  thus  for  a 
short  time  renders  very  difficult  the  development  of  any  new  germs  that 
may  fall  into  the  liquid.  Too  much  importance  cannot  be  attached  to 
the  use  of  boiled  or  pure  water.  This  also  accentuates  the  necessity  for 
changing  the  water  frequently  in  order  to  prevent  the  re-absorption  of 
oxygen,  as  well  as  its  re-infection  by  new  germs. 

Grading. — It  has  been  found  in  all  branches  of  fruit  culture  that  it 
pays  well  to  grade  the  crop.  Those  who  will  consult  the  consumer  will 
find  that  the  neglect  of  proper  grading  is  one  of  the  severest  counts  against 
California  fruit.  It  has  been  found  that,  over  and  above  the  cost  of 
grading,  far  more  money  can  be  made  by  grading  a  crop  than  by  selling 
it  ungraded.      This  is  now  recognized  by  all  successful  fruit-growers; 


—  26  — 

only  those  who  are  unsuccessful  oppose  grading.  The  olive  requires 
fully  as  much  grading  as  any  other  fruit.  Not  only  is  it  graded  for 
size,  but  the  most  successful  picklers  grade  for  color  also.  At  first  the 
writer  was  of  the  opinion  that  grading  for  color  was  too  expensive  for 
profit.  After  having  studied  the  question,  he  has  changed  his  mind, 
and  now  recommends  to  all  who  pickle  ripe  olives  to  grade  not  only  for 
size  but  for  color  also. 

The  grading  should  be  done  before  the  olive  has  been  treated  in  any 
way;  in  other  words,  just  as  it  comes  from  the  tree.  There  are  various 
kinds  of  machines  adapted  for  this  purpose;  but  the  best  the  writer  has 
seen  is  the  "cherry  grader,"  placed  over  vats  or  buckets  partly  filled 
with  water.  This  machine  seems  less  liable  to  bruise  the  fruit  than 
some  of  the  others.  The  machine  can  only  grade  for  size,  however ;  for 
color-grading,  women  and  children  are  employed.  As  has  been  stated, 
those  who  have  made  the  best  success  at  pickling  are  unanimous  in 
recommending  grading  for  color.     The  reason  for  this  is  twofold: 

First — The  market  pays  better  prices  for  olives  of  a  uniform  color. 

Second — There  is  less  liability  of  having  unsound  fruit  resulting  from 
the  pickling  process.  Color  is  approximately  a  criterion  of  ripeness, 
and  hence  there  is  much  less  danger  from  spoiling  when  the  fruit  is 
uniformly  ripe. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  pickling  process  must  be  varied  according 
to  the  state  of  maturity  of  the  olive.  After  the  crop  has  been  graded  in 
size  all  pickling  grades  are  sent  to  the  pickle  vat,  while  the  small, 
undersized,  or  underripe  olives  are  sold  to  the  oil-maker.  It  is  best  to 
dry  those  olives  destined  for  sale  or  shipment  to  the  oil  manufacturer. 
This  can  be  done  by  exposing  them  to  heat — natural  or  artificial — in 
thin  layers,  never  more  than  an  inch  and  a  half  in  thickness.  In  the 
best  establishments  the  drying  or  evaporation  is  done  in  ordinary  fruit- 
driers  with  artificial  heat,  care  being  taken  that  the  temperature  never 
passes  120°  F.  Any  sort  of  a  contrivance  for  the  evaporation  of  the  olive 
can  be  made.     Those  using  a  current  of  warm,  dry  air  are  the  best. 

Olives  destined  for  oil-making,  especially  if  long-distance  shipments 
are  necessary,  are  dried  so  as  to  lose  fifty  per  cent  of  their  weight.  Care- 
ful note  should  be  made  of  this  loss  of  weight  by  the  producer,  and 
prices  regulated  accordingly.  Much  dissatisfaction  was  found  in  parts 
of  the  State  because  some  buyers  offered  the  same  price  for  dried  olives 
as  for  fresh.  For  oil-making  purposes  the  dried  olives  are  just  as  valua- 
ble as  the  fresh,  and  less  labor  is  necessary  in  handling  them. 

Preliminary  Handling  and  Selection. 

State  of  Maturity. — The  first  thing,  then,  is  to  determine  the  proper 
state  of  maturity  for  pickles.  This  is  reached  as  soon  as  the  oil  has 
completely  formed  in  the  drupe.  If  the  olive  is  pickled  before  it  has 
formed  its  oil,  it  will  be  hard,  indigestible,  and  largely  devoid  of  the 


—  27  — 

nourishment  and  flavor  that  make  the  ripe  pickled  olive  so  highly 
esteemed.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fruit  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
tree  after  the  oil  has  completely  formed,  the  flesh  becomes  soft  and  the 
keeping  qualities  are  impaired.  Even  for  oil-making,  " overripe"  olives 
are  inferior  to  those  gathered  at  the  true  state  of  maturity,  for  the 
quality  of  the  oil  deteriorates  as  excessive  "ripeness"  increases,  though 
the  quantity  of  oil  remains  the  same.  Nothing,  then,  is  gained  by 
delaying  the  harvest  after  the  olive  has  reached  its  full  "  oil  richness," 
which  is  the  chief  quality  a  ripe  pickle  should  possess.  In  hot  climates 
the  color  of  the  olive  at  this  state  of  maturity  will  be  lighter  than  in 
colder  climates;  hence,  the  color  alone  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  furnish 
us  with  a  sure  guide  to  the  determination  of  maturity. 

It  is  true  that  the  market  prefers  an  olive  that  is  perfectly  black, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  such  fruit  is  not  only  inferior  in  taste, 
but  generally  unsound  or  liable  to  become  so  much  sooner  (other  things 
being  equal)  than  an  olive  picked  at  an  earlier  stage  of  maturity. 

When  the  drupe  changes  color  and  feels  slightly  soft  to  the  touch,  and 
when,  upon  pressing  the  juice  and  allowing  it  to  stand,  some  minute 
globules  of  oil  rise  to  the  surface,  it  may  be  said  that  the  olive  is  ready 
to  be  picked  for  either  oil  or  pickles.  At  this  time  the  oil  is  not  only  of 
a  better  chemical  composition  and  possesses  a  finer  flavor  than  later,  but 
the  liability  to  bruise  and  to  consequent  decay  is  far  less. 

Handling  the  Olives. — In  the  case  of  olives  destined  to  be  made  into 
oil,  bruising  is  conducive  to  the  growth  of  fungi  that  ruin  the  good 
qualities  of  the  oil.  In  the  case  of  pickles  fungi  not  only  ruin  the  taste, 
but  decompose  the  flesh  and  render  the  growth  of  bacteria  a  certainty 
as  soon  as  the  olives  are  put  into  liquid.  Hence,  for  pickles  the  great- 
est care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  bruising  the  fruit.  The  neglect  of  this 
was  found  to  be  the  most  general  cause  of  all  the  failures  investigated.  After 
careful  investigation  and  personal  experience,  the  writer  has  no  hesita- 
tion in  saying  that  while  there  are  other  causes  of  failure,  yet  the  bruis- 
ing of  the  fruit  is  by  far  the  most  common  one  in  olive  pickling.  So 
important  is  this,  that  it  is  the  custom  with  the  best  operators  to  pick 
olives  into  buckets  half  filled  with  water.  In  pouring  them  from  the 
buckets  or  bags,  the  workmen  use  barrels,  into  which  they  pour  the 
crop  as  fast  as  the  picking  buckets  are  filled;  these  barrels  are  half  full 
of  water  "  to  break  the  fall."  Letting  an  olive  fall  from  the  top  of  an 
ordinary  barrel  and  allowing  it  to  strike  the  hard  bottom  with  full  force 
will  bruise  the  soundest,  and  thus  invite  disaster,  for  the  chances  of 
making  a  marketable  pickle  out  of  a  bruised  olive  are  so  slight  as  to  be 
out  of  the  question. 

Varieties  of  Olives. — It  is  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  some 
varieties  require  more  care  in  handling  and  preserving  than  others.  In- 
deed, there  are  some,  such  as  the  Sevillano,  Ascolano,  St.  Agostino,  Cucco, 


—  28  — 

Polymorpha,  Macrocarpa,  Obliza,  and  in  fact  all  of  the  very  large  fleshy 
olives,  that  are  so  delicate  that  they  are  used  almost  entirely  for  green 
pickles  only.  It  is  true  that  when  it  is  possible  to  properly  pickle  these 
large  varieties  when  ripe,  a  delicious  article  of  food  is  secured.  The 
writer  deems  success  in  this  case  so  remote  that  no  one  is  advised  to 
attempt  its  achievement,  except  on  a  small  scale.  These  large  olives 
frequently  show  the  "dry  rot"  as  soon  as  they  have  changed  color. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  there  is  any  one  variety  known  as  the 
"  Queen  "  olive.  This  is  a  term  used  to  designate  any  very  large  olive. 
It  originated  with  the  Sevillano,  or  olive  of  Seville,  the  Ascolano,  or  olive 
of  Ascoli,  and  several  of  the  very  large  olives  sold  in  the  market  as 
green  pickles.  While  the  value  of  these  varieties  for  green  pickles  is 
great,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  they  are  essentially  hot-country  olives, 
and  should  not  be  planted  in  the  colder  regions. 

The  large  fleshy  olives  being  fit  only  for  green  pickles,  let  us  glance 
at  those  fit  for  ripe  pickles. 

First  comes  the  large  Mission;  due  stress  is  laid  upon  the  adjective, 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  there  are  several  kinds  of  "  Missions," 
some  large  and  some  small.  Those  who  have  the  small-fruited  Missions 
are  recommended  to  graft  or  bud  them  over  with  the  larger  varieties. 
The  Mission  has  been  used  in  America  for  establishing  the  standard  for 
ripe  pickles;  hence  it  is  more  marketable — whatever  be  its  other  quali- 
ties. Certain  it  is  that  the  market  will  have  no  variety  which  is  smaller 
than  the  Mission.  Aside  from  its  size,  it  is  to  be  recommended  on  account 
of  the  firmness  of  its  flesh.  It  will  stand  more  rough  treatment  than 
any  other  variety  known  to  the  writer. 

As  the  chief  difficulty  is  to  put  up  an  olive  which  is  unbruised  and 
firm,  the  value  of  the  Mission  is  obvious.  Not  once,  in  going  over  the 
olive  orchards  of  the  State,  did  the  writer  see  or  hear  of  the  Mission 
being  attacked  by  the  dry  rot  just  described,  even  when  in  an  advanced 
state  of  maturity.  It  bears  as  regularly  as  any  other  variety — Uvaria 
and  Redding  Picholine  excepted.  The  chief  fault  would  seem  to  be  that 
it  ripens  late,  which  in  localities  subject  to  November  frosts  is  certainly 
a  drawback.  With  high  pruning  in  such  localities  most  of  the  danger 
from  this  source  can  be  obviated.  It  seems  to  be  especially  well  adapted 
to  California  soil  and  climate,  aside  from  its  qualities,  which  make  it 
sought  for  by  the  market. 

Some  years  ago  the  writer  recommended  the  Manzanillo,  Obliza,  and 
Nevadillo  Blanco  as  varieties  well  adapted  for  ripe  pickles.  After  care- 
ful investigation  of  the  orchards  of  the  State  it  becomes  his  unpleasant 
duty  to  say  that  he  was  mistaken.  While  these  varieties  do  make  most 
delicious  pickles,  yet  the  dry  rot  above  described  seems  to  attack  them 
to  such  a  degree  that  it  is  impossible  to  depend  on  them  as  a  regular 
source  of  income.  When  the  recommendation  was  made  nothing  was 
known  of  the  "  dry  rot,"  but  the  past  four  years  have  demonstrated  that 


—  29  — 

these  varieties  are  peculiarly  susceptible  to  this  disease,  and  hence  the 
only  recourse  now  is  to  bud  or  graft  them  over,  as  they  make  excellent 
stocks.  The  day  may  come  when  the  vegetable-pathology  laboratory 
will  discover  some  means  of  controlling  the  disease;  but  as  nothing 
has  been  accomplished  in  this  direction  during  the  past  four  years,  it 
would  seem  wise  to  change  them  into  some  variety  which  is  not  affected 
by  it. 

The  Manzanillo  and  Obliza  are  at  best  much  more  delicate  and  softer 
in  flesh  than  the  Mission,  thus  requiring  more  care  in  handling;  while 
the  Nevadillo  Blanco  is  somewhat  under  the  standard  size  required  by 
the  market.  If  these  varieties  were  picked  when  lemon-yellow  or  wine- 
red  and  used  for  oil,  they  could  be  made  valuable,  as  the  disease  does 
not  manifest  itself,  as  a  rule,  at  this  stage  of  maturity,  and  what  are 
generally  known  as  "underripe"  olives  make  a  higher  grade  of  oil  than 
if  allowed  to  reach  a  more  advanced  state  of  maturity;  it  being  under- 
stood that  more  pressure  and  grinding  are  required  to  express  the  oil 
from  "underripe"  flesh  than  from  "overripe,"  soft  flesh. 

The  Uvaria,  while  a  heavy  bearer,  cannot  be  recommended  for  mar- 
ketable pickles,  as  the  ratio  of  pit  to  flesh  is  not  that  which  would 
recommend  it  to  the  market.  It  has  too  much  pit  and  too  little  flesh 
for  its  size. 

The  Rubra  and  Pleureur  de  Grasse,  while  most  excellent  oil  varieties, 
are  subject  to  the  rot  to  a  certain  extent,  though  not  so  much  as  the 
Manzanillo,  etc.  They  are  too  small  for  the  market  when  pickled,  but 
make  a  delicious  olive  when  pickled  ripe  for  domestic  consumption. 

The  Redding  Picholine  is  fit  only  for  a  grafting  stock,  in  spite  of  its 
heavy  crops.  It  makes  an  inferior,  greasy  oil,  and  is  far  too  small  for 
pickling  purposes. 

The  Columbella  is  too  delicate  for  pickling;  is  subject  to  rot,  and 
drops  its  crop  to  such  an  extent  that  it  ceases  to  be  profitable. 

The  Oblonga  makes  good  oil,  but  when  pickled  shrinks  to  such  a 
degree  that  the  pit  ratio  becomes  so  large  that  there  is  left  but  a  small 
amount  of  leathery  flesh. 

The  other  varieties  are  not  grown  to  any  great  extent  in  California, 
and  are  to  be  classed  according  to  size  as  oil  or  pickle  varieties.  The 
price  paid  by  oil-makers  does  not  seem  to  warrant  keeping  small  varie- 
ties, when  more  profit  can  be  made  from  them  by  budding  or  grafting 
into  the  Mission  or  its  equivalent  in  size  and  hardiness.  No  one  should 
dig  out  olive  trees  of  inferior  variety,  as  they  make  good  stocks  and  can 
be  converted  into  desirable  varieties  at  small  expense  and  with  but 
slight  loss  of  time. 

Color  of  the  Olive. — Thus  far  most  of  the  ripe  pickled  olives  that  have 
been  sold  on  the  market  have  been  Missions  that  have  been  allowed  to 
become  jet  black;    hence,  the  idea  has  gone  abroad  that  all  ripe  pickles 


—  30 

should  be  jet  black.  That  this  is  an  error  has  been  sufficiently  demon- 
strated. Some  olives  are  naturally  light  in  color,  and  even  the  same 
variety  varies  greatly  in  this  respect,  owing  to  climatic  and  soil  differ- 
ences. The  only  requisite  of  a  ripe  pickled  olive  is  that  it  should  con- 
tain its  full  natural  oil-percentage;  for  no  market  in  the  world  will 
tolerate  a  soft  olive,  and  any  market  will  soon  become  educated  to  the 
use  of  sound  ripe  olives,  regardless  of  color. 

The  manner  of  preserving  the  olive  also  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
the  final  color  of  the  pickle.  A  fruit  that  has  been  preserved  by  the 
lye  process  has  far  less  color  than  one  that  has  been  u  water  cured." 
Soda  will  extract  far  more  of  the  coloring  matter  than  potash;  hence,  the 
best  practitioners  use  only  potash  on  this  account,  as  well  as  from  the 
fact  that  it  softens  the  flesh  less  than  does  soda.  While  the  actual  color 
makes  no  difference  in  the  eating  value  of  the  pickle,  it  must  be  kept 
in  mind  that  uniformity  of  color  is,  for  the  purchaser,  a  very  important 
consideration,  aside  from  the  fact  just  mentioned  that  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  a  uniform  taste,  flavor,  and  firmness  unless  the  color  be  uniform. 

To  Extract  the  "  Bitterness." 

Pure  Water  Process. — The  oldest,  and  perhaps  the  best  known,  method 
of  extracting  the  tartness  from  the  olive  is  by  simply  soaking  it  in  pure 
water  until  all  the  excess  of  such  substances  has  been  extracted.  This 
process,  though  seemingly  very  simple,  frequently  turns  out  disastrously. 
It  certainly  requires  as  much  care  and  attention  as  any  other  known 
process.  The  chief  drawback  would  seem  to  arise  from  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  a  continued  supply  of  perfectly  pure  water;  and  the  slightest 
carelessness  in  changing  the  water  twice  a  day  will  spoil  the  entire  lot, 
by  allowing  the  dangerous  micro-organisms  to  gain  a  foothold,  not 
merely  in  the  water  itself,  but  in  the  flesh  of  the  olive. 

One  of  the  causes  of  failure  in  this  case  may  be  attributed  to  the  use 
of  water  that  is  of  too  high  temperature;  thus  not  only  greatly  favoring 
the  growth  and  development  of  bacteria,  fungi,  etc.,  but  also  relaxing 
the  flesh  tissues  of  the  olive  and  rendering  their  attacks  more  successful. 
In  far  too  many  cases  the  pickle  vats  or  barrels  are  located  in  extremely  hot 
places,  not  only  during  the  curing  process,  but  also  after  the  pickle  was 
ready  for  sale.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  there  is  fully  as  much 
reason  for  keeping  olives  from  heat,  air,  and  light  as  there  is  for  keeping 
meat,  fruit,  or  milk  from  such  influences. 

The  water  must  be  pure,  cool,  and  fresh.  Canal  water  is  especially 
dangerous.  The  practice  of  keeping  the  olives  in  a  running  stream  of 
water  during  the  soaking  is  a  bad  one,  for  sound  pickles  rarely  result, 
owing  to  a  slime  or  scum  forming  on  the  surface  of  the  fruit  itself  and 
thus  greatly  facilitating  the  growth  of  the  micro-organisms  which  spoil 
the  fruit.     It  would  seem  that  by  drawing  the  water  off  rapidly  at  reg- 


—  31  — 

ular  intervals  the  surfaces  of  the  olives  are  cleansed  or  "rinsed,"  so  that 
less  danger  results. 

The  size  or  shape  of  the  vat  or  vessel  used  is  immaterial,  except  that 
in  no  case  should  the  mass  of  olives  be  more  than  thirty  inches  deep;  if 
deeper,  the  bottom  layers  become  bruised  from  the  pressure  from  the  top. 

A  false  bottom  which  will  enable  the  impurities  and  sediments  to  be 
constantly  drawn  off  is  advisable.  A  floating  cover,  which  will  keep 
constantly  submerged  the  olives  floating  in  the  liquid,  is  a  necessity; 
besides  this,  a  cloth  or  covering  of  some  sort  should  be  kept  over  the  top 
of  the  whole. 

It  is  immaterial  what  material  the  vat  or  vessels  be  made  of,  provided 
that  there  are  no  strong  tastes  (such  as  from  pine,  redwood,  etc.)  that  can 
be  communicated.     Stone  jars  are  to  be  highly  recommended. 

In  some  parts  of  the  State  the  olives  are  slit,  thus  greatly  shortening 
the  duration  of  the  soaking  by  bringing  the  flesh  of  the  olive  in  more 
immediate  contact  with  the  water. 

The  number  of  incisions  vary  from  one  to  four.  They  should  be  quite 
shallow,  however.  One  of  the  commonest  contrivances  for  producing 
these  incisions  is  to  bore  an  auger  hole  in  a  table  and  place  around  the 
edges  sharp  blades  of  steel,  and  pass  the  olives  through  the  hole  by  hand, 
Olives  thus  treated  can  be  cured  by  the  water  process  in  about  twenty 
days,  but  are  neither  as  attractive  to  the  eye  nor  are  they  so  apt  to  re- 
main sound  after  being  cured  as  those  in  which  no  incisions  are  made. 

Ordinarily  the  extraction  process  with  pure  water  and  unslit  olives 
lasts  from  thirty-five  to  sixty  days.  The  water  in  all  cases  of  soaking 
should  be  changed  once  each  twelve  hours.  Though  some  have  occasion- 
ally had  success  with  but  one  change  in  each  twenty-four  hours,  yet 
such  successes  should  be  considered  as  accidental.  Once  a  week  the  whole 
vat  should  be  well  rinsed  by  repeated  filling  and  drawing  off  the  water  in 
quick  succession.  The  length  of  this  fresh-water  soaking  varies  greatlv 
according  to  the  tartness  and  toughness  of  the  olive.  After  the  first 
twenty  days  the  unslit  fruit  should  be  tasted  every  day,  and  when  the 
proper  amount  of  tartness  has  been  extracted  the  fruit  should  be  put 
into  a  salt  brine  containing  four  ounces  of  good  salt  to  the  gallon  of  water. 

Much  has  been  written  on  this  subject,  but  the  fact  remains  that  any 
salt  may  be  used  that  is  free  from  impurities  which  may  discolor  the 
olive  or  impart  to  it  a  foreign  taste.  All  salt  brines  should  be  boiled  and 
applied  cold,  after  skimming. 

Brine  should  not  be  applied  at  full  strength  after  the  tartness  has  been 
extracted,  but  progressively,  beginning  with  4  ounces  of  salt  per  gallon, 
followed  by  8  or  10  ounces  per  gallon,  and  finally  a  brine  of  14  to  16 
ounces  of  salt  per  gallon,  according  to  the  destination  of  the  olive.  If 
for  immediate  consumption,  then  14  ounces  is  ample;  if  for  long  ship- 
ment or  keeping  for  a  year  or  more,  then  even  more  than  16  ounces  could 


—  32  — 

be  used.  If  the  consumer  finds  the  olives  too  salty  they  can  be  readily 
freshened  by  a  few  hours'  soaking  in  fresh  water.  The  stronger  the 
brine  the  less  chance  there  is  of  failure  to  keep  well.  If  the  brine  at  full 
strength  be  used  at  once  the  olive  will  shrink  unevenly  and  "wrinkle"; 
thus  taking  away  much  from  the  market  value. 

The  use  of  distilled  or  boiled  water  cannot  be  too  highly  recommended. 
Whenever,  either  during  the  soakings  with  fresh  water  or  during  the 
life  of  the  pickle  in  brine,  a  scum  should  be  noted  on  the  edge  of  the 
vessel,  a  careful  rinsing  should  follow.  The  use  of  caustic  soda  cannot 
be  too  highly  recommended  in  keeping  vats,  etc.,  clean;  thus  removing 
the  wood  taste  or  other  foreign  flavors. 

The  main  drawback  to  the  use  of  the  water  process  is  that  few  pick- 
lers  seem  to  have  the  patience  to  keep  constantly  changing  the  water  or 
cleaning  the  vats.  Women  as  a  rule  are  better  than  men  for  successful 
pickling.  Indeed,  they  seem  to  realize  more  fully  that  the  pickling 
process  requires  as  much  exercise  of  common  sense  and  close  attention 
as  cooking,  and  hence  their  success. 

Lye  Process. — The  process  of  extracting  the  tartness  from  the  flesh  of 
the  olive  can  be  greatly  shortened  by  the  use  of  lye  before  soaking  in 
fresh  water.  It  is  maintained,  however,  by  some  of  the  best  prac- 
titioners that  a  few  days'  soaking  in  fresh  water  before  the  lye  is  used 
(changing  it  every  twelve  hours)  aids  greatly  in  preserving  the  color  of 
the  fruit  and  will  cause  a  clingstone  to  become  a  freestone  after  the  lye 
has  been  applied.  The  lye  method  requires  fully  as  much  care  as  the 
water  process,  but  as  the  time  is  very  greatly  reduced  one  must  devote  his 
entire  time  to  the  work  and  not  allow  himself  to  be  called  away  from 
the  immediate  supervision  of  the  pickling  vats. 

One  of  the  first  precautions  in  using  the  lye  process  is  to  determine  the 
strength  of  the  material  used.  The  "concentrated  lyes"  sold  on  the  mar- 
ket are  either  soda  or  potash,  but  most  of  these  are  impure.  It  makes  no 
difference  what  the  brand  may  be,  a  statement  on  the  label  should  show 
if  the  "  concentrated  lye  "  be  potash  or  soda,  and  in  what  quantities.  A  ny 
brand  which  guarantees  98  per  cent  of  pure  soda  or  potash  can  be  taken. 
Unguaranteed  lyes  will  be  found  to  vary  from  10  to  99  per  cent  purity. 
Thus  far  "Greenbank  "  lye  has  been  found  to  be  the  most  common  in  use, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  it  marks  on  the  label  the  exact  strength  and 
nature.  Potash  98  per  cent  pure  should  be  insisted  on.  In  calculat- 
ing the  strength  of  the  solution  when  the  lye  is  98  per  cent  pure  it  may 
be  regarded  as  100  per  cent  pure,  unless  very  large  quantities  are  used. 
Soda  is  too  caustic  and  too  much  of  a  decolorizer  to  be  recommended. 

The  amount  of  lye  used  varies  from  one  ounce  to  four  ounces  to  th 
gallon  of  water,  preferably  two  ounces. 

The  olives  should  be  covered  with  this  solution,  which  should  be  kept 
in  constant  circulation,  for  four  hours,  more  or  less,  according  to  the 


—  33  — 

strength  of  the  lye  used;  then  the  iye  should  be  drawn  off  at  four  hours, 
and  the  olives  immediately  well  rinsed. 

The  olives  should  be  tasted  constantly  to  determine  how  far  the  lye 
has  penetrated.  In  no  case  should  it  be  allowed  to  penetrate  to  the  pit. 
A.  slight  greenish  discoloration  marks  the  line  of  penetration.  Allowing 
the  lye  to  penetrate  about  half  way  from  the  skin  to  the  pit  is  in  most 
cases  sufficient.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  if  too  much  or  too  strong 
a  lye  has  entered  the  flesh  of  the  olive  almost  all  of  its  flavor  will  have 
been  removed,  and  the  keeping  qualities  so  greatly  impaired  that  there 
will  be  but  slight  chance  of  making  a  marketable  pickle.  If  it  is  found 
that  there  still  remains  an  excess  of  acridity  in  the  treated  olive  it  can 
always  be  removed  by  subsequent  treatments.  In  some  cases  two  or 
even  three  lye  treatments  are  necessary  on  refractory  olives.  Always 
err  on  the  side  of  an  excess  of  "bitterness"  than  the  reverse. 

Prof.  Hilgard  recommends  for  soft  fruit  the  use  of  salt  in  the  lye 
solution,  not  more  than  four  ounces  to  the  gallon. 

Mr.  B.  M.  Lelong  recommends  the  use  of  lime  after  the  lye  is  drawn 
off.  He  uses  four  ounces  of  lime  to  the  gallon  of  water,  and  allows  the 
olives  to  remain  in  this  solution  five  or  six  hours. 

The  writer  makes  no  recommendation;  though  no  possible  harm  can 
result  from  either,  and  some  claim  favorable  results  from  both  of  these 
processes. 

After  the  lye  has  penetrated  into  the  flesh,  and  the  olive  has  or  has 
not  been  limed  to  fix  the  coloring  matter  as  just  described,  there 
remains  still  an  important  process  to  begone  through,  i.  e.,  the  extraction 
of  the  lye  from  the  olive.  This  lye,  either  pure  or  in  a  combined  state, 
must  be  gotten  rid  of  before  the  olive  is  fit  for  consumption.  This  is 
accomplished  by  soaking  the  olives  in  fresh  water,  and  changing  it  at 
least  twice  a  day.  There  can  be  no  safe  limit  given  for  the  duration  of 
this  soaking;  taste  alone  must  be  relied  on.  The  flesh  of  the  olive  is 
relaxed  and  soft  from  previous  treatments,  and  the  greatest  care  must 
be  exercised  lest  it  spoil  before  the  salt  brine  has  been  added. 

When  the  lye  has  been  removed,  the  olive  is  ready  to  be  "firmed"  by 
the  use  of  salt,  and  kept  in  a  preservative  liquid.  At  first  a  brine  (boiled) 
containing  five  ounces  of  salt  to  the  gallon  must  be  used  and  allowed 
to  stand  not  more  than  two  days.  Then  replace  this  first  brine  with 
another  (boiled)  containing  from  six  to  eight  ounces  of  salt  to  the  gal- 
lon, and  allow  it  to  stand  five  or  six  days.  After  this,  another  brine 
(boiled),  containing  eight  to  ten  ounces  of  salt  per  gallon  of  water, 
and  leave  a  couple  of  weeks,  when  the  final  brine  can  be  used.  This 
brine  should  be  carefully  boiled,  strained,  and  cooled.  If  the  olives 
are  for  immediate  consumption  fourteen  ounces  of  salt  per  gallon 
is  sufficient;  if  for  a  long  shipment,  sixteen  to  eighteen  ounces  of  salt 
may  be  used.  During  the  entire  process  the  olives  must  be  kept  in  as 
3— b!29 


—  34  — 

cool  a  place  as  possible.  After  they  are  in  the  final  brine  they  should 
be  at  once  removed  to  the  coolest  place  possible.  Those  who  live  in 
localities  where  it  is  very  hot  in  summer  are  strongly  advised  to  send 
their  olives  to  some  cool  locality.  Whenever  the  brine  becomes  cloudy 
it  should  be  at  once  removed,  and  the  olives  thoroughly  rinsed  and  a 
new  brine  put  on. 

The  use  of  alum  is  not  recommended,  though  it  acts  as  a  good  "firmer  " 
as  well  as  an  antiseptic.  It  is  freely  used  by  some,  but  alum  is  con- 
demned by  physicians  as  unwholesome. 

A.  P.  HAYNE. 


To  the  above  recommendations  on  the  subject  of  pickling  I  would  add, 
from  my  personal  experience,  the  following  points: 

(1)  The  stronger  the  lye  used  in  extracting  the  tartness  of  the  olive, 
the  more  the  flesh  is  softened  and  the  more  difficult  it  will  be  to  make 
the  pickle  keep.  Moreover,  the  stronger  the  lye,  and  therefore  the 
shorter  the  time  of  extraction,  the  greater  the  liability  to  its  being  over- 
done or  underdone.  It  is  far  better,  by  repeatedly  using  a  weak  lye, 
say  not  exceeding  two  ounces  per  gallon,  to  prolong  the  time  of  extrac- 
tion, and  thus  to  be  able  to  gauge  exactly  and  leisurely  the  right  moment 
for  stopping  the  process.  I  should  never  expect  any  fruit  extracted 
within  four  or  five  hours  to  keep  beyond  six  months.  As  many  days 
will  be  found  to  be  a  wiser  economy  in  the  end,  the  weak  lye  being 
removed  as  often  as  may  be  found  necessary  by  its  becoming  saturated 
with  the  "tartness."  This  is  easily  determined  by  its  ceasing  to  feel 
"  soapy"  between  the  fingers.  This  test  is  also  useful  in  case  an  impure 
"  concentrated  lye  "  has  been  used. 

(2)  The  use  of  salt  brine  is  advisable  at  any  time  when  the  fruit 
appears  to  be  softening  too  much,  which  may  readily  happen,  especially 
in  the  case  of  that  which  has  been  grown  on  low  or  over-irrigated  ground, 
where  it  becomes  pulpy  and  large.  Such  fruit  can  be  firmed,  and  prop- 
erly reduced  in  size,  and  made  to  keep,  by  the  timely  use  of  brine  of 
properly  graduated  strength.  This  use  need  not  be  deferred  until  after 
the  lye  has  been  washed  out;  the  salt  nowise  interferes  with  its  action. 
I  consider  close  attention  to  this  point  of  extreme  importance  in  respect 
to  the  keeping  qualities  of  ripe-pickled  olives;  and  it  is  readily  seen  that 
here  again  the  use  of  good  judgment  and  close  observation  is  of  the 
utmost  importance,  and  that  no  routine  prescription  will  answer. 

(3)  Different  varieties  of  olives  must  never  be  treated  together. 
When  one  is  done  just  right  another  will  be  found  overdone  or  under- 
done. The  same  consideration  applies  to  fruit  of  greatly  different  sizes. 
No  uniformity  of  texture,  flavor,  or  color  can  be  expected  when  different 
varieties  and  sizes  are  pickled  together.  pAT)n 


